I Can't Help Falling In Love With You
by Inuyashagirl2015
Summary: Did anyone else wish that Ed was his own person, and not just Natalie in disguise? And, of course, that Natalie had someone to comfort her after Chad came out of the closet... Natalie/OC (OFC), some Chad/Ed, slash, femslash, etc.


Alright, so I've kind of been thinking about doing this one for a while, and finally, I decided, what the hell, I'll do it. The pairing is Natalie/Dragon (OC), and by Natalie, I mean Natalie from the musical All Shook Up. I've been wanting to do this one for a while since we did the play in select choir. For the record, I was Henrietta, I went for Sylvia, Sandra and Henrietta, and I ended up getting Henrietta, but I got a callback for Sandra and I lost both of the parts to Seniors, and since I'm a sophmore in HS, I'm not overly torn up about it... Plus, no one else tried out for Henrietta at all, so she kind of had to give it to me anyway lol. The funny thing is, all of the other girls who sang at all were all altos, yet several of the parts were written for sopranos. I was the only soprano that sang at all, yet the Henrietta part is more in the alto range than anything. I still rocked it though ;), but enough about my egotistical self.

_**MoreThanLikely,NoOneWillEverReadThis**_

_**Pairing: **_Natalie/OFC (Dragon), Chad/Ed (Natalie and Ed are two different people), hinted Jim/Sylvia

_**Universe: **_All Shook Up- The Musical

_**Rating: **_Soft T, without a doubt

_**Warnings: **_Meh, really it's just femslash. Not much else, no language, no sexual themes or implications... Nothing, and let's be honest, I really shouldn't even have to count femslash as a warning at all...

_**Well,MaybeAFewPeopleWhoKnowThePla yAndHaveReadSomeOfMyOtherStu ff...**_

"The person I'm in love with... is Ed!" The entire crowd gasped as Chad, hearthrob, roustabout and probably the straightest man any of them knew, made his declaration.

"W-What?!" Two voices cried out at the same time, and everyone turned to face the two who had uttered the word together. In the back of the crowd, Ed could be seen, naturally pale face frozen in shock, staring at his best friend, obviously unable to comprehend what had just been said. A few feet away from him stood Natalie Haller. Her normally healthy, tan face was becoming increasingly pale, she looked just as shocked at Ed (and I'm sure everyone else) did. Knowing her as well as I did, I knew that once she got over the shock, tears would start to flow from her lovely green eyes, and I hated the thought. I also hated how far away from her I was at the moment- some best friend I am, eh?

"Ed," Chad started, the crowd moving to make a clear path to the surprised boy as he moved towards him, "Ed, we can make this work. If you'll just give me a chance, I promise, we can make this work." His words were like a knife to my heart- not because_ I _was in love with either of the boys, but rather because I knewhow they must be making _Natalie_ feel. Chad's eyes were pleading as he approached Ed, movements very reminiscent of someone approaching an animal that they were trying not to scare away.

His movement pulled me completely out of my own shock and, even as I continued to watch the two males, I made my way, as swiftly as I could through the gathered people, trying to reach my best friend... and secret crush, before she fully registered the situation. As soon as I left my vantage point, I lost sight of her, though I kept

"Chad... I don't- I don't know what to say." Ed finally managed to stammer out. At that point, Chad had reached him and was standing merely a foot or so away.

"Then don't say anything right now! I know you probably need time to think about this, and I understand. But please, please at least think about it Ed! I promise, if you would just accept me, I can and will spend the rest of my life doing everything I can not to make you regret it! I would do anything to make you happy, anything, I-"

"Chad." Ed interupted, the shock seeming to disappear from him all at once, "Chad, you are the sweetest man in the world, but if you have one flaw, it's that you don't know when to just shut up and a kiss a fellah senseless." Chad's jaw dropped, eyes looking like they were about to pop out of his head, very uncharacteristic for him. But it was only for a second, and in the next instant, he was smiling just about the biggest smile that I had ever seen from anyone, before he suddenly bent down and did exactly what Ed had indirectly demanded.

No one moved or did anything for a few seconds, but the strange peace was shattered by a strangled cry from several feet in front of me which startled many people in the large crowd and even broke the two boys apart momentarily. As the people in front of me moved to let me through, I caught sight of her again. The despair, pain and shock were clear in her eyes, even as the tears now streaming down her face obscured the beautiful green orbs. Without a single word, she turned around, bursting through the crowd, and sprinted away from the painful scene.

"Natalie!" Mr. Haller cried after her, moving to go follow, until I held up a hand to stop him.

"Wait, Mr. Haller, please let me go after her." He looked at me, confusion and worry evident in his expression, and I could tell that he was about to deny my request and go himself

"Jim," In a flash, Sylvia was by his side, dark hand on his arm, "Let the girl go comfort her. You're a great daddy and I know you love Natalie to death, but this is just one of those times when she needs her best friend, and another woman, to talk to." She turned to me, eyes shockingly gentle, considered how steely the grey orbs normally were, "Go one then, go get your girl." She nodded in the direction that Natalie had run off in. I looked back at the elder Haller, who was obviously conflicted.

The second he gave me a hesitant half-nod, I turned around, and broke into a sprint away from the scene, looking for "my girl", as Syliva had called her. Though I could never recal saying anything around her to even hint at my feelings. I had a feeling that the briskly kind older woman had meant more by those words than just "go be a good best friend and comfort her after her heartbreak", as I was sure many others would take the words to mean.

It didn't take me too incredibly long to find her. As I enter the abandoned fairground, I heard crying coming from old carousel. As the long since shut down machine came into view, it's peeling and faded paint still catching my eyes, I finally saw her. She was sitting on one the bench seats on it, you know, the kind that were for couples on dates and chaperones, whereas the horses were for the children. As I neared her, I could see the tears leaking between her fingers, and her every sob felt like knife in my heart. She didn't notice me as I climbed onto the platform of the carousel and walked around to sit on the side closest to the carousel's center (because she was sitting on the outside part of the seat and I wasn't exactly going to ask her to scoot over)and she remained oblivious of my presence until I sat down on the bench next to her and spoke.

"Natalie..." I called softly, trying not to startle her. She jerked her head out of her hands and looked at me with wide, teary eyes for a moment. I didn't say anything else, then, merely opened my arms in an obvious invitation. She immediately leaned forwards, bending to bury her head into my shoulder as I wrapped my arms around her, stroking her hair comfortingly. For several minutes, we just sat there like that, my sleeve rapidly becoming soaked with her tears as I murmered any words of comfort that I could think to say to her.

How long it took, exactly, I couldn't tell, you, but eventually, she calmed down somewhat. She straightened up, rubbing her neck in discomfort as she did so (making me silently curse how much shorter I was than her, because that was definitely the reason why her neck was aching), and though her voice wavered, it was intelligible when she spoke.

"Of course this would happen." She began, bitterly. "Of course. The first and only guy that I've ever loved and he... and he chose another man over me. Is there something wrong with me?" I hated how she put herself down like that, especially considering it wasn't true, even if I had expected it.

"No, there's nothing wrong with you Natalie! You're beautiful and amazing and anyone would be lucky to have you!"

"Then why isn't Chad in love with me? Then why is another man a better option than I am?" She shot back, anger rising in her voice, and I really hoped that it wasn't against me.

"Because he clearly likes men. I'm sorry, Natalie, but people can't exactly change their sexuality." Oh, don't I know it.

"Well he certainly didn't seem to be interested in men until Ed showed up." She muttered darkly, glaring at me in a way that made me wince.

"True, but he's only human and humans are wrong sometimes. Maybe it took Ed to make him figure out how he really felt, which might explain why he's "been with a lot of women" but never settled down with any of them. Or maybe it's only Ed that he feels that way for. There's probably no one, probably not even Chad himself, that can explain it right now." I knew Natalie, and I knew that, under normal circumstances, she would have logically thought through what I had said and realised that I was right. However, she was stilling hurting and confused, and right now she just wasn't thinking logically and I knew that too.

"Or maybe he realised that I was in love with him and I actually disgusted him so much that he went and ran the other way. After all, I'm nothing more than a grease monkey, who could ever love a girl like me..? No one, that's who. No one has ever loved me, and no one ever will..." Hearing her continue to talk about herself like she was worse than trash hurt me too, and not only did it hurt, it infuriated me.

"Natalie, don't you dare say that about youself! You are beautiful and sweet and amazing and just because Chad doesn't swing your way doesn't make that any less the truth. And you know what, Natalie, you're wrong, completely wrong about no one ever loving you because I-" Finally, I realised what I was about to blurt out and immediately cut myself off.

Unfortunately, Natalie could read me just as well as I could read her, and she caught my slip up. "What... do you mean I'm wrong? What were you about to say?" She looked at me, obviously waiting for what I would say.

"I- I-, I mean, I didn't- I wasn't- nothing, I just meant-" I stammered, grasping for anything that I could possibly say that she would see right through.

"What were you going to say?" She asked more sternly. Instead of answering, I jumped up out of the seat and backed away, wondering which would be worse, answering (because I knew she would know if I said anything besides the honest to goodness truth) or running away. Of course, she quickly took away the latter option as she was up in a flash, following me as I backed away until I suddenly realised that I was backed against the painted wall of the carousel's center and she, merely a foot or so away from me, could easily grab me if I tried to run. I was trapped and left with only one option: answer honestly.

"You were going to run away from me. Why? What were you going to say?" She stared down at me, looking strong and independent and dominant everything that she hadn't been since Chad had gotten here, everything that I had missed greatly until now, everything that made my knees feel like Jello and my heart pound loudly in my ears. When I didn't answer after several seconds, she spoke again. "Dragon, answer me. We're best friends, you can tell me anything."

"I-" I couldn't say it, and I knew as I stared up at her that my eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

"Come on, just spit it out." She rushed, and I slowly nodded, taking a deep breath as I willed the pounding in my chest to just stop, though, of course, it didn't.

"Okay, so... You're wrong about no one being in love with you. I'm- Natalie, I'm... I'm like Chad. I don't mean that I'm in love with Ed too, that's not it at all, it's actually... I'm actually in love with you, Natalie, and if you're completely disgusted by me, I completely understand, but if we can, I would rather we just completely forget about this. I mean, I've known I was in love with you for a year now, and I've probably been in love with you longer than that, and we've been friends that entire time, so nothing has to change now that you know. You can just pretend that you don't, and I can pretend that I'm not, and everything can just keep on like it had and we can stay best friends and-"

"Dragon." She suddenly interupted me, staring at me with an expression that I, for once, couldn't read, which freaked me out even more.

"Yes, Natalie?" I managed to squeak out, only then realising that my voice was raised about an octave higher than normal in panic.

"Sometimes, it's okay to just stop talking." And suddenly, she had leaned forward and kissed me, and her lips were slightly chapped but still so very _soft _and it was everything that I had ever dreamed about, but better, because I knew that, for once, I wouldn't wake up from this and have to pretend that the thought had never crossed my mind as I went throughout the day. Sadly, before I could even think to kiss her back, she pulled away. I still couldn't read her expression, which still freaked me out completely and utterly.

"Well, that wasn't what I had expected at all." She finally said.

"Natalie, I-" Again, she cut me off, this time by putting her hand over my mouth. Probably for the best too, because I would no doubt start rambling again.

"No, let me talk first. I don't love you," She stately bluntly, but continued quickly when my eyes gave away how much that hurt to hear, despite that fact that I already knew as much, "Yet. I don't love you _yet, _but I honestly feel like I could. I definitely like you in _that way_, I just... I guess I just didn't realise it until just now, but it's not love yet. But if you're willing to let me try, I'm sure that I could with time. Will you let me?" She finally took her hand away from my mouth to let me answer, but there was really no need to, because I couldn't formulate the words to actually reply to her anyway, so I had to settle for just nodding instead.

She smiled at my obvious lack , and _god how I love that smile, _that smile that she saved only for me, the smile that she never gave to Dennis or _Chad _or anyone else in the world. I smiled back at her for a second, and then suddenly threw myself forward, locking my arms around her waist, and out of pure instinct, her arms wrapped around me to return the embrace.

And finally, for the first time since I had realised that I was in love with her, I let myself hope, believe, that maybe, just maybe, I actually had a chance with her, that I would be forced to either suffer in silence for the rest of my life or sacrifice our friendship. For the first time in a long time, I was finally okay.

**Hmm...IKindOfWantToMakeASequelOrMa keItATwoShotOrSomething...**

The funny thing is, if I were to make a sequel and post it seperately, the two would literally double the amount of fanfics written about this musical :/ really wish that there were more. Someone should get on that. (hint hint, wink wink)

LOL, I just wrote that whole thing in one shot and I haven't saved it yet. It still says Document at the top... I would hate myself if my computer suddenly crashed or something... Anyway, see you next time, my lovelies!

P.S. The whole time I was writing this, I was listening to I Can't Help Falling In Love With You over and over and over, so that's a big part of the reason why it's named that... Just so you guys know!


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